Ice climbers are a creative bunch, likely due to the mental processes required to get us to the top of a frozen bit of water. There are really very few rules in this activity. We are after all climbing with a portable one-armed belay. Anything goes really, just get to the top safely.

And just as there are few rules in climbing there are seems to also be few rules in how to approach the artistry used in Ice Fest Posters.

Last year, FI Co-Owner Ben Carlson shot aerial footage of the Ice Park and Camp Bird Rd. Get psyched with his edit, and be sure to come by our booth to check out the Kronos, DRY ICE Tools, and ICICLES. See you at the fest!

Ice climbing continues to grow! And with it are several 'mark your calendars NOW' events that bring us climbers together for fun, friends, ice climbing, and usually lots of beer. Check out the starred events to get your hands on DRY ICE Tools and KRONOS!

In today’s winter climbing venues, having gear with the ability to adapt to changing conditions is a requirement. It should be no surprise that we designed the pick to be replaceable on the Kronos Wood Ice Tool. We wouldn’t buy it ourselves if it wasn’t.

In fact, there are two types of picks available for the Kronos Wood Ice Tool, the Kronos Ice Pick, and the Kronos Mixed Pick (both are available here). The main difference is that the thickness of the Ice Pick is 3mm at the tip while the Mixed Pick is 4mm at the tip. Changing a pick on the the world's only technical tool made of wood is pretty simple: remove the bolts, spread the wood, remove and replace the pick.

Many climbers have inquired what exactly are the differences between our unique picks. Below are the details of each pick, how they differ from one another, and why:

-Hedgehog teeth on top of pick for stability during stein pull maneuvers

-Wider at the tip than our Ice pick to standup to abuse

-At the point in the pick that recieves the most torque (measured at 25mm from the tip) the depth of the Mixed Pick (the distance from the top of the pick's bevel to the teeth) is .75 mm more than the Ice Pick (Bonus detail at the end of this article)

Detail comparison. Note the differences in thickness at the pick's tip.

Here, the Mixed Pick is on top of the Ice Pick. The hammer and aggressive angle of the mixed pick are clear.

Here. the Ice Pick is on top of the Mixed Pick. The 3.8° difference in pick angle is clear.

Bonus Extra Techy Detail

While the difference in depth between the Ice and Mixed Pick is only .75mm, a tiny amount, the added thickness of the Mixed Pick amounts to a 11.39 sq mm difference in cross sectional area over the Ice Pick at 25mm from the tip. That’s 27.5% more material at the point of highest torque.

Furnace Industries is two guys, Ben and George. While we like to think we’re industry standard setting uber-ice climbers who invented and hand produce cool products including a new ice axe, the reality is we get bogged down with real life, family, career, and the minutia of running a small climbing gear company. So when we finally get to go ice climbing we want to be in the best shape possible so we can have the most fun. But there are more practical reasons to train in and out of the climbing gym. Read on for 7 of them…

1 - You’ll get used to the ‘Disconnect’

Not a lot has been written about the Disconnect but it can be a very real barrier to entry for many new ice climbers. Unlike rock climbing where we use bare hands and feel the rock to know how a hold feels, we primarily use ice climbing tools to ice climb. Because we’re not physically grabbing the medium on which we’re climbing, there is a ‘disconnect’ between climbing and medium that can mess with some folks heads. This is the #1 problem new ice climbers face. Add to that disconnect cold fingers, wind, crampons, bulky clothes and gloves, snow in your face, maybe even a face shield, and it’s easy to realize why ice climbing can be at first overwhelming.

By training with Dry Ice Tools, new and even seasoned climbers can overcome that disconnect months in advance of winter’s first icicle formation. Dry Ice Tools teach climbers learn to get a feel for security of the hold through the shaft of the tool. In ice climbing this is called ‘pick feedback’. The more in-tune the climber is with the feel of placement, the higher the confidence level.

After all, why waste the first few days of the season getting ready for that hard project when you can be ready for it on day 1.

2 - Prevent injury

This cannot be stressed enough. Hitting that crimp on your favorite boulder problem 1,000 times will result in injury. If you want a long and healthy rock and ice climbing career, you must do other activities. One of the main ways to prevent injury is to cross train.

Dry Ice Tooling, lifting weights, running, biking and doing yoga in addition to your climbing routine will develop muscles that climbing neglects, ensuring that your muscles remain in proper balance. Plus, it just makes you a more interesting human being to have interests outside of climbing.

3 - Your head will be in the right place

Leading ice climbs is risky business, and having a solid lead head is a critical. Run out above your last ice screw on a WI5, mind and forearms screaming at you, the decision making process can become downright visceral. Lead climbing with Dry Ice Tools in the gym teaches a climber how to quiet the panic, bring control to your decisions, manage the pump, and arrive safely at that next stance, all in a lovely climate controlled interior with happy fixed clips.

4 - Grip Strength

Hangboard workouts are a great way to build grip and finger strength for rock climbing, but when ice climbing we really only use the handles of the tools, and those are in different positions than a hangboard provides. Training specifically for the grip of an ice tool will yield better results. The problem is, simply using your ice tools on a hangboard will also not help. Ice tools are designed to be used with gloves. The volume of the handle is smaller to accommodate the added bulk of a glove. Trying to use them barehanded may work, but the shape of the grip is simply not training the right muscles.

Dry Ice Tools have increased volume in the handles and are designed to be used barehanded in a gym setting so climbers can train their grip strength with the ergonomic specificity for the volume of their real ice tools. Training the right muscles the right way yields the best results.

5 - Core Strength

This is SUPER important.

In rock climbing, our core muscles play a key role in enabling our arms and legs to maximize leverage and transfer torque from hand to foot and vice versa. The core muscles are what provide body tension when you’re trying to make a long reach or twisting body movement. In fact, every full-body climbing movement calls the core muscles into action. Developing your core will empower you to prevail through steep ice, while a weak core will leak energy and make hard moves harder.

Dry Ice Tools isolate your feet and specifically work your core, especially on vertical to overhanging terrain. Even a few laps with Dry Ice Tools on vertical terrain will have a V10 boulderer calling for tension.

6 - Footwork

Footwork is the foundation of solid climbing. However, when rock climbing we can use our arms to leverage ourselves through certain moves, pushing and pulling our center of gravity as needed.

When ice climbing, that ability is limited. Pulling sideways on an ice tool placement will usually result in a pick twisting out of the ice. This requires ice climbers to have excellent footwork to compensate for that loss of lateral control. Because Dry Ice Tools isolate the lower body and bring awareness back to the feet, every climber can benefit from even a few runs on a pair of Dry Ice Tools.

7 - Safety

A sum of all the previous reasons, training with Dry Ice Tools will result in safer and ultimately more fun and enjoyable outings. Climbing and training indoors in a gym allows us to learn good judgment without the serious consequences of bad judgment. Building strength, honing our lead head, and having great footwork sets everyone up to safely push their limits.

Bonus:

You’ll look and feel amazing! Have you seen Will Mayo recently?

Conclusion:

What’s better than climbing? More climbing. By training for ice climbing, you’ll be able to ice climb longer, safer and have more fun. Because at the end of the day, that’s what training with Dry Ice Tools is all about.

I have seen the KRONOS tools around for 2 or 3 winters now. Someone always seem to have a pair at the ice fest clinics. At first glance, I wanted a pair to hang above my fireplace. They are just beautifully designed. Elegant even. I hated the idea of taking them climbing. I wouldn’t want to ding them up or even scratch them. However, they are T rated!

During this past winter, I was teaching a clinic at New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest called Ice Climbing for Rock Climbers. We had done some top roping to get the excitement out of our system. Everyone climbed a few times. I was collecting tools to do some drills. I like to do that so when we get to the point where we can coach climbing movement, everyone has some context to draw from. My colleague Karsten Delap gave me a belay. I started up a 50 foot WI 3+ practice flow with 4 Petzl Nomics, 2 Grivel North Machines, a pair of Quarks, and a pair of Furnace Industries Kronos. My goal was to set up an offset ladder of staggered tools so our guests could practice working their feet with out exhausting themselves swinging.

I knew what the Nomics were going to do. The North Machines were pretty good. The Quarks are always too light for pure waterfall ice. By now, from swinging tools overhead on a cold day, my hands were getting cold. I unclipped the Kronos from my clipper, gave it a swing, and sunk it first try. I had a similar experience with the second Kronos. I can only compare it to hitting a baseball with a Louisville Slugger. It has a very distinct swing, but it was good and solid. When you hit the first swing stick, it was as if David Ortiz himself hit your home run.

I continued to use the Kronos for the remainder of the day, my hands stayed warm due to the wood shafts, and most of all, I preferred the damp vibration-less report that is too common with aluminum shaft tools. Plus, they have something the Nomic doesn’t: a real spike for lower-angled terrain.

Furnace Industries Co-Owner Ben Carlson loaned me a pair to use for the remainder of the winter after Rock Climb Fairfield’s Ice Fest and dry tool comp. My clients and guests loved them, and in fact they gravitated towards these beautiful tools over the gear they used in the past. We used them in Huntington Ravine, on the steeps at Frankenstein, at Champney Falls, Cathedral Ledge, and other local spots. They were a hit.

Being a small gear company means we possess the unique opportunity to inspire, interact, and invite climbers to help support worthy causes. The HERA Climb4Life project seeks to fund raise to eliminate ovarian cancer by hosting climbing events in important locations.

Ice tools are funny things. In the beginning they were wood, then they were steel, then aluminum, carbon fiber, and now... back to wood.

Tools have personality, and after even a few seasons, all of them have a story to tell. Tools wear in and become chipped and worn, nicked and scraped, each mark a record of a moment in the climber's life. Tools are swung into the ice or hooked on the rock and act not only as an extension of one's physical self, but also the emotional self. We 'feel' our climb through our ice tools.

Finding the right tools can result in a magnificent marriage between gear and climber, best friends who add up to more than the sum of their parts. For some, they are easily their most cherished piece of climbing equipment.

In his article Against the Grain, Switzerland-based adventurer and writer Bruno Schull compares the Bhend Ice Ax to the Furnace Industries KRONOS. Schull reveals some startling reasons why climbers chose wood then, and why they will choose wood now and into climbing's future.

2015-16 was a spectacular ice climbing season that saw boundaries pushed, new ground explored, and even the invention of a new ice ax. For some, the ice season is still going on! Below are 6 Awesome Things that happened this ice season, and 5 more bonus headlines!

The secret is out: Newfoundland is the new home for serious Canadian winter climbing. It’s big, windy, and nose-numbingly cold. You'll probably need a snowmoblie, and it's chock full of unexplored territory.

Will Mayo hasn’t let anything stop him from pioneering some notable routes, most recently The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (WI7+, Trad (!) M12 with and Ben Collett and Chelsea Rude. Read Will's 3 part blog about the route and the gigantic ice that falls off it here.

Tim Emmett and Klemen Preml, both users of DRY ICE Tools, established an outrageous bolted spray ice line at Helmcken Falls. The climb is a 260 foot single pitch of spray ice climbing they called Interstellar Spice and rated by Emmett and Preml WI 12. Yes, 12!

In a single pitch, Interstellar Spice covers similar ground as the first four pitches of its neighbor Spray On to the right, a route put up by Emmett and Will Gadd in 2011.

After warming up and attempting a nearby M12, she says she didn’t feel great and went to cheer on Gordon McArthur as he attempted Kamasutra. McArthur fell near the top of the route and his ice tool, stuck in a crack, was left dangling.

“The only reason I went up there was because Gord got his axe stuck. I thought it would be way too much for me to climb it. Maybe that was just the thing I actually needed. Going up without any expectations.”

On Nov 15 2015, Furnace Industries released the KRONOS, the world's first 'T' rated, CE certified technical ice climbing tool made from wood.

It’s gorgeous, climbs amazingly, and offers features no other tool can offer. This is a big deal. Why? No other wood ice tool in history has achieved the technical ice tool 'T' rating, and the benefits of using wood are huge. Read more about the KRONOS here.

is Tom Ballard’s newest and most difficult dry tooling route in the Dolomites. If his D15 grade is confirmed by future ascensionists, it will be the most difficult dry tooling route climbed yet. Ballard told UKC, "With 45+ meters of burly, shoulder-straining moves, and more than 25 clips, this route weighs in, I think, at a hefty D15.”

On July 29 2015, more than 200 people were evacuated from Ice Factor Kinlochleven, south of Fort William, when the accidental fire broke out in the sauna area of the 120-year-old building.

Owner Jamie Smith said: “It has taken eight months and, after a huge team effort, I’m really proud to be able to reopen an even bigger and better Ice Factor Kinlochleven.”

He pointed out that the centre incorporated 16,750 square yards of ice and rock climbing space and said they had taken the opportunity to treble the size of the bouldering area in the indoor rock climbing section.

The Michigan Ice Film was released unveiling to the world the enormous amount of ice to be climbed in the Midwest!

This is a story of place, a scrappy corner of Midwestern flyover land that happens to be home to one of North America’s largest concentrations of climbable ice. The film weaves the stories of the region’s original climbing pioneers with tales from some of climbing’s more well known athletes with a connection to Michigan.

The film also features the increasingly popular Michigan Ice Fest. The festival, one of the oldest climbing festivals in North America, brought around 750 climbers to tiny Munising this past February for five days of learning, presentations, giveaways and zany hijinks.

On February 26, Italian Simone Moro, Pakistani Muhammad Ali Sadpara, and Spaniard Alex Txikon reached the summit of Nanga Parbat, the thirteenth 8000-meter peak to get a winter ascent. The successful climb leaves K2 as the only 8000-meter peak that has not been climbed in winter. Can you say 'last great problem'?

Although DEEP in the backcountry, Adirondack climbers eager for adventure need look no further than Panther Gorge. Kevin MacKenzie, Bill Schneider & Devin Farkas did just that on Jan 30 when they nabbed the FA of an unclimbed 250’ line they called By Tooth and Claw WI4.

Maybe not so awesome, but cetainly notable. During the annual Ouray Ice Festival at the Ouray Ice Park in Colorado, the three-foot diameter water penstock above Uncompahgre Gorge burst. No one was climbing directly below at the time but there were several climbers off to the side. Climbers had to evacuate the lower gorge in certain sections due to rapidly rising water. No one was injured and the mixed climbing competition, not far below the burst, continued.

It’s that time! The Ouray Ice Festival, the biggest, baddest, most amazing ice festival on planet earth happens this weekend and Furnace Industries is proud to return as a sponsor. This time we have the tool that has everyone in the ice universe talking, a great prize for our annual pull-up contest, and a flagship product that has completely changed the game.

If simply being in beautiful Ouray, Colorado wasn’t awesome enough, here are 3 reasons to swing by the Furance Industries booth:

It’s gorgeous, climbs amazingly, offers features no other tool can offer, and YES, we will have them available to demo. This is a big deal. Why? No other wood ice tool in history has achieved the 'T' rating. The KRONOS is the first. Don’t know what a ’T’ rating is? You should, our lives depend on it.

2. The Annual DRY ICE Tools Pull-up Contest!

It's open to any man/woman/child/bighorn sheep/space alien. The winner will be whoever knocks out the most pull-ups. The contest is cumulative, starts on Friday at 8 a.m. and finishes on Saturday at 4 p.m. Climbers can pop in, crank out 10, head out climbing, swing back, crank out 10 more, go have a beer, crank out 10 more... Last year, our comp brought out some big guns at Ouray. Tobias Smith won with 289 pullups! Tobias won a signed copy of Steve House’s Training for the New Alpinism. This year the prize is the top-of-the-line Maxim Rope , the 9.5 x 60m 2X Dry Bi-Pattern Pinnacle Yellow Jacket. That's a $369 prize folks. Get excited for this pull-up THROWDOWN!

3. DRY ICE Tools.

Our original product has blown up in the past year in large part to a fan base that understands that training in the off-season, even a small amount, leads to big results in strength, muscle memory, and confidence. They also appreciate well-crafted, excellently-designed products. Many climbing gyms now own their own DRY ICE Tools as well as our ICICLES and offer clinics to members on ice climbing movement.

Do not miss this! Get down to Ouray and check us out. We also have some other new surprises, freebie pick protectors, and our usual pithy and humorous sticker selection to decorate your helmet/car/water bottle/wind deflector/friend's forehead when they're sleeping...

Moneting: (pron; mohnay-eng) Noun, Slang. Def: Being so close to something to see details but too close to see the whole picture.

At Furnace Industries, we are guilty of Moneting. We knew that passing the 'T' test with a wood shafted ice tool was a huge deal. But we did not know that, surprisingly, most climbers have no idea what the 'T' on their tools even means.

In the few weeks since we released the KRONOS, we've received overwhelming media inquires, requests for hi-res images for blogs, price point comments, a venture capitalist inquiry, a Norwegian in-flight magazine profile, and loads of questions about what a 'T' rating is. Elsewhere on the interwebs, we've actually been called 'hipsters' (if you met us, the last thing you'd call us is 'hipster') for allegedly not having the good sense to know that wood ice tools were the norm when Chouinard sold bamboo tools. However, none of good ol' Yvon's tools, or any tool made of wood from back then or since has passed the 'T' rating.

The KRONOS is not the first tool made of wood. It is the World's First 'T' Rated Ice Tool Made of Wood.

It's a big deal. The testing involved in a 'T' test would blow most wood tools to bits. But FI Co-Owner George Fisher figured it out, and it's genius. So what does the 'T' on our ice tools mean? It's something every ice and especially mixed climber should know as our lives depend on it!

The 'T' Rating

The T rating has to do with the CE Safety Certification that all ice tools must pass if a company wants to offer an ice tool for sale. CE certification helps you choose the correct ice axe. CE (Comité Européen de Normalisation) is a European group that develops and maintains equipment standards. On an ice axe, look for a circular CE stamp that will have either a capital B or T in it.

-General mountaineering axes are designated with a B (basic) stamp. These are generally lighter, less expensive and less durable. Basic axes are NOT strong enough for technical climbing!

-Technical ice axes and ice/mixed climbing tools are designated with a T (technical) stamp. These are generally heavier, more expensive and more durable.

On technical ice tools, picks and shafts are rated separately. It is actually quite common to have a CE-T shaft with a CE-B pick. A CE-B pick is thinner, penetrating pure ice better; a CE-T pick is thicker and stiffer and works better for mixed climbing. The KRONOS comes with a B rated pick. A T rated pick more suitable for mixed climbing is available.

Diving Deeper into the 'T' rating

If you want to really nerd out, keep reading...

Tools that receive a 'T' rating have to pass 4 physical tests: .9 Kn pull at 90° to the shaft of the tool, 3.5 Kn pull at 90° on the center of the shaft, 4 Kn pull at 90° on the head of the tool, and a 182 N Pick Deflection Test.

Note that for one of these tests, the load is almost 900 lbs. (4 Kn is 899 lbs)

This diagram should help:

So that's the easy part, and also the part where most ice tools' lives end.

Next, the company (Furnace Industries LLC) must provide all the technical information the CE lab (SGS UK) requires to certify the tool (KRONOS) conforms with the harmonized standard EN13089 for Category 3 Personal Protective Equipment. This involves extremely thorough document called the Tech File which details our materials and methods used in producing the actual tool, our quality management system, and description of our system of production and testing that guarantees the consistency of the tools produced.

There is a Factory Inspection. A representative from the lab physically inspects the FI shop to make sure our methods for producing the KRONOS ensure consistency for each tool we produce.

There is rigorous vetting of the Tech File. The lab requires FI to write up the technical details about the KRONOS. The lab inspects this document and makes sure that the file contains all the technical information it's supposed to. Included as part of the the tech file are the instructions included with the tool when it's sold. The instructions must have all the appropriate safety information, notes on care and storage, and definitions of the required marks that are on the tool (company name, model name, batch labeling definition, the 'T'...)

After all that testing is done, inspections performed, and tech file errors fixed, all fees paid, the lab issues a CE Certificate that certifies the KRONOS passed the 'T' test. We framed ours.

So, that's what a 'T' rating is. If you've read this far, it's because you're super smart, you understand that climbing really is in fact dangerous, and you want (like all climbers should) to know as much as possible about the gear you're trusting with your life.

If you live in the Northeast of the USA, you fall into one of two categories:

Cat 1: You are amped because you're rock climbing season never ended.

Cat 2: You are the opposite of amped because you have your ice gear all packed and there is simply no ice.

At FI we fall squarely into Cat 2, the main reason being we've just launched our new KRONOS and we want to get them into climber's hands. Turns out, northeastern climbers can't try your amazing ice tool if there's no ice to climb. Everywhere else on Earth, the conditions are perfect.

So East Coasters, to while away this 'July at Christmas' phenomenon, (remember kids, climate change isn't real) we thought we'd point out 6 awesome things you can do until the mercury finally drops below 32° (it will I promise). There's even a bonus activity at the end of the post.

2. Read about sweet ice. There is no shortage of mental adventure awaiting the curious reader. We recently read Andy Kirkpatrick's Psychovertical and we're about to launch into his Cold Wars after meeting him in person and we have since been obsessed with the Frendo Spur.

3. Travel to the ice! There's no rule that says you have to wait around in your home stomping gorunds for conditions to come in. Heck, if you live in NYC, it's 5hrs to the Daks, where conditions are still meager, but that's about the same amount of time to FLY to Canmore AB, where the biggest, longest, raddest, and baddest ice routes in North America live. Some of them climbable year round. BOOM!

Dancing With Chaos WI6

4. Build that ridiculous home Dry Tooling wall you've been planning to build. Now you can train like the pros, you just need to turn your backyard into a tower of pain that will likely get you uninvited from the neighorhood association's annual picnic. Still tho, there's a certain charm to being able to crush out some laps while little Bobby takes a nap.

5. Finally get around to having your ice screws sharpened. Ice climbing is becoming large enough that there are now Ice Screw Sharpening services. Two of note are: A Nice Screw, and IceScrewSharpening.com (check out their Super Stubby option, yikes!) It's not easy to bring your screws back into tip-top, laser-fast-placement shape, and these guys will wave a magic wand (aka 3D CNC cutter) to breathe some new life into your rack. In fact, they can make the sharper even than when they were new!

6. Dry Tool. Not DRY ICE Tool in the gym, but head out to some slag heap and pick you way up something. Dry Tooling is serious business in Europe, why not in America? Perhaps all this warmth will finally kick the ass of American climbers to get out and dry tool. Just don't head straight out to the most classic rock route with your sharpies.

Bonus: (Warning: Shameless Plug Ahead) Head to the gym and crank through some fig 4's and 9's on your DRY ICE Tools. Might as well use the time you were going to be ice climbing to get rock hard in the gym, right?. Most gyms set routes specifically for the tools, and if they don't ask them to set a couple. Don't have a pair? Well you can get some now! They're cheaper than a pair of rock shoes!

One of the biggest rewards of running a small gear company is the close proximity to our customers. George and I handle and inspect every single product we ship, and many times, we get to shake the hand of a new customer. There's a real connection between something we made and our users.

Building on that connection, at FI we like to reach out to our customers we can't meet in person to get a deeper sense of who they are, if for nothing more than to be better friends. We recently had a customer purchase a pair of DRY ICE Tools in Saudi Arabia, and we couldn't help oursleve. We had to get to know this guy, what he's about, and what the heck he was thinking!:

Dr. William Lilley, Energy Specialist, Dhahran Saudi Arabia

Family? Married, no kids.

Where do you ice climb? Never been, but would like to take a climbing holiday in Switzerland or Japan.

How did you get into ice climbing? Developed an interest reading Rock&Ice magazine.

Where's your climbing gym and who's climbing there? We have indoor gyms in the main residential camps of Saudi Aramco. Primarily my wife and I climb in Dhahran, I also climb in Riyadh at the British School. There are a wide range of nationalities working in Saudi Aramco and we have climbers from all over the world.

Where does your passion for ice come from? Living in the desert!

Is is simply to provide contrast while driving in the desert from Riyadh to Dhahran? Yes we dream of escaping to the cold.

How did you find dry ice tools? Advertised in Rock&Ice magazine.

Why did you buy them? My wife and I would like to go on a climbing holiday and thought it would be good to get some early training.

How do they fit into your climbing? They are great for mixing it up in the gym, they definitely make you consider you balance and footwork and make you concentrate more on moves ahead.

Why do you think they tools are useful? To give a feel for using tools to climb. Otherwise I’d have to climb a palm tree with a standard set of axes and crampons, not that I’m ruling that out just yet!

A truly community project, producers Tom Seawell and Jeff Wiant have mobilized the ENTIRE climbing world in support of this project. Not one person or company has declined. In this manner, an unbiased, un-sponsored view of Tom Frost's life, contributions and acheivements in the climbing world.

"The film is a tribute to the visionary who redefined climbing style, the engineer who helped revolutionize climbing equipment, the artist whose iconic photography documented the most celebrated first ascents on Yosemite's big walls, and the conservationist who lead the international effort to save historic Camp 4, the traditional home and meeting place for Yosemite climbers." Steve Grossman

CAC is a world class facility located in Graz, Austria. They are a Core Focused facility, meaning the facility is for the serious climber intrested in performing at their best. With the Grazer Bergland nearby providing opportunities for ice climbing, CAC, with DRY ICE Tools, is perfectly poised to churn out some seriously strong ice climbers.

The Holzknechtfall, just 2 hrs away!

With the recent addition of their Outdoor Area CAC increased their climbable terrain by 280 sq meters!

This video is the first in a series following Arnot on her journey to become the first American woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. Although the journey is on hold due to the Nepal Earthquake, we can be certain that Melissa will be back on her DRY ICE Tools, training hard to make mountaineering history.

Melissa was also instrumental in the establishment of The Juniper Fund. The Juniper Fund provides assistance to individuals, families, and communities in underserved countries adversely impacted by their work for the mountain-based adventure industry.

She will also be the speaker at this year AAC New York Chapter 2015 Annual Dinner. Melissa will share her story of learning the ropes, taking us on a journey from Mount Rainier to the summit of Everest five times.

Last in our series profiling excellent holds for DRY ICE routes is Rock Candy.

Founded by Nathan and Liz Yokum and based in Akron, Ohio, Rock Candy Holds has been producing unique climbing holds since 2006. They offer climbing holds, hardware, route setting tools and accessories, gear, apparel, volumes, training holds, hangboards, and like DRY ICE Tools, holds made of wood.

What really sets Rock Candy apart is their approach. Like DRY ICE Tools, Rock Candy is small. The company is really just one guy, Nathan Yokum, and two part timers. And yet they contantly put out top quality products with an attention to detail the we at DRY ICE Tools can relate to.

Their website is super easy to navigate. They have a killer tumblr blog. With their massive following among routesetters, it's no wonder Rock Candy has risen to the top of the hold bucket.

Here are our top picks from the Rock Candy holds sets for DRY ICE routes:

Don't let the fact that someone thinks these are footholds dissuade you. These puppies are PERFCT for setting challenging DRY ICE routes. Their tiny yet positive profile help brings climbers into the zone. They make great footholds for tracking routes too.

A no brainer, the Toadstools are a great choice for beginner DRY ICE routes, or for use on super steep terrain. The ultra positive profile allows the strap of DRY ICE Tools to securely engage, without having to focus too much on the placement.

The Cellulites. With just enough positivity to engage the tools these holds are an excellent choice for expert DRY ICE routes. Use these on off-vertical to vertical terrain and climbers will thank you for it.

Furnace Industries Co-Owner and Chief Product Designer George Fisher was interviewed for a short on Epic TV's Climbing Daily about our upcoming release of the KRONOS, the World's First 'T' Rated, CE Certified Ice and Mixed Climbing Tool made of WOOD: